Air Seychelles engineers graduation

Air Seychelles, the national airline of the Republic of Seychelles, has celebrated the graduation of a group of seven Seychellois engineers who have completed a comprehensive training programme with Etihad Airways.

Antoine Francois, Cliffton Leon, Damien Azemia,
Erol Agricole, Hervé Toulon, Mario
DeSylva and Marlon Nourrice embarked on the specialist four-year course in
September 2012, where they learnt about both the theoretical and practical
components of aircraft maintenance engineering.

The engineers were congratulated on their
accomplishment at a special ceremony attended by Christoph Schippel, General
Manager Operations of Air Seychelles; Jeff Wilkinson, Chief Executive Officer
of Etihad Airways Engineering; Faisal Al Mulla, Senior Manager Graduate
Engineering Programme at Etihad Airways; and Kevin Pereira, Head of Engineering
Training at Etihad Airways.

Roy Kinnear, Air Seychelles Chief Executive
Officer, said: “We’re delighted to
welcome home our talented engineers and congratulate them for successfully
finishing one of the top aircraft maintenance engineering programmes in the
world.

“The
four-year programme enabled our engineers to gain a wealth of experience with
modern Airbus aircraft that form the backbone of our international fleet, made
possible by our partnership with Etihad Airways.

“Their
graduation once again demonstrates our commitment to the professional
development of Seychellois youth, as well as the emphasis we place on human
resources which is vital for securing the future of Air Seychelles.”

Jeff Wilkinson said: “We offer our congratulations to the seven engineers who today
celebrate their graduation from the Etihad
Airways Graduate Engineering Training programme. This graduation
ceremony marks a significant moment in their careers as they look forward to a
great future with Air Seychelles.

“Over
the past four years these men have gained knowledge and valuable
hands-on experience on technologically advanced aircraft as they immersed
themselves in an organisation of engineering excellence. We are confident they
will be an asset to their national carrier as they use the skills and knowledge
they acquired at Etihad Airways Engineering’s world-class facility in Abu
Dhabi.”

Following their classroom training, the students
rotated between aircraft hangars in Seychelles and Abu Dhabi, where they honed
their practical skills and learned from senior professionals of Air Seychelles
and Etihad Airways.

The practical component of the course covered
various aspects of line maintenance and engineering checks on Airbus aircraft,
such as the A320s and A330s in the Air Seychelles fleet, all the way up to the
A380s, the world’s largest passenger aircraft operated by Etihad Airways.

Speaking about his experience, Erol Agricole,
26, said: “Settling into life in Abu
Dhabi was easy as there were seven of us from Seychelles and we received a lot
of support. The training was very in-depth and covered many areas in aviation
maintenance engineering. It emphasised to us that our job is critical for
ensuring the safety of aircraft and, as such, accountability is very important
in our line of work.”

Fellow
graduate Cliffton Leon, 34, said: “The
training was fantastic and really showed us how much work goes on in the
background while the aircraft is on the ground. We have all learned a lot and
gained significant aircraft maintenance experience that we look
forward to putting to good use in Air Seychelles.”